- The composition, like a skeleton or framework,…must be held together to create a sense of unity.…When assessing an illustration, you should ask yourself,…"Do all the parts seem to fit together?"…"Is there something here that…"feels awkward or out of place?"…Like balance, unity is a fundamental…element of good composition.…Unity is achieved when all the parts come together…in a consistent, harmonious whole.…To understand what unity is, let's take a look…at what's happening when elements aren't unified.…

If we take a look at some masterful golden age illustrations…that express visual unity, and make a few changes,…the results are interesting.…Changing the color of the costume…in Kay Nielson's "You will see three Princesses,"…to a color outside of the established palette,…draws too much attention to it and breaks up…the color rhythm and unity of the illustration.…Shifting stylistic treatment can also…create visual confusion, as in this example of…Arthur Rackham's illustration for "Alice in Wonderland."…Changing the style of one character…

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Understanding how to arrange the elements of a composition is critical to a successful final piece. Like the skeleton of a creature, composition is the foundation on which everything else rests.

This course will help to clarify best practices for developing any artistic or illustrated composition. Shaping the elements; marrying concept to composition; engaging the editing eye; achieving balance, unity, directional movement, and perspective; and exploring point of view and focal points are all topics covered in these lessons. Author (and professional artist) Mary Jane Begin also explores the major and minor pitfalls of a weak composition and explains the six compositional rules that lead to the best end results! See the steps in action in the final chapter, where Mary Jane designs a concept for lynda.com.

Then share what you've learned with the lynda.com community. Take the three challenges Mary Jane issues in the course and post your results to Facebook and Twitter, using the hashtag #learnatlynda. We can't wait to see your illustrations!